


The Choosing

by Vesperchan



Series: Tumblr Shorts [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Arranged Marriage, BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Sakura, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Marriage test, Oneshot, Prompt Fic, Royalty, Sakura is a warrior queen that's not used to being loved, Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt, alternative universe, ambiguous setting, someone needs to hug her more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 17:31:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17166239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesperchan/pseuds/Vesperchan
Summary: Sakura is a monarch set to marry one of the Uchiha princes to unify their countries. She anticipates being told what to do, but doesn't anticipate the choice she is given.  “I know it’s already been arranged, but let me do this properly…Will you marry me?” Itasaku





	The Choosing

They were grasping at the last lame stalks of wheat in a thrashing field, pretending that a unification wouldn’t mean her people would rise up in the year and set fire to the high walls with their blood. She could see it in their eyes as her palanquin passed through the streets. They would bow their heads and lower their teeth to the ground for a time, but they were as eager for the marriage as she was, which was not at all. If she didn’t murder her husband personally, they’d burn her along with the rest of the invaders.

Sakura brushed aside the gold coins that dangled from her headpiece so that they didn’t fall in the way of her line of vision. She was a pretty doll made up in silks and rubies, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still a lioness in human skin. Her body itched for fighting leathers and a good shield.

The palanquin stilled and then lowered. The curtains were pulled aside and two servants reached in to help her out like she couldn’t do that on her own.

“You’re scowling, I can see it through the veil.”

Sakura glared sideways at her favorite. Ino grinned back.

“Smile, or at lease smooth out those frown lines. You’re not going to die from something like this.”

Sakura tried her best to lessen her glare but felt she was failing as the other servants ducked their chins and averted their gazes. “I was prepared for death, I was never prepared for  _this_.”

Ino hummed, gathering up a section of her train and smoothing it out. “Yes, that’s an interesting problem, but I’m sure they requested you as a bride candidate for a reason over the others. Maybe they’ve had their fill of palace girls.”

“I am not here to satisfy their appetites.”  

Ino was quiet for a moment before responding. “No, my queen, but you are here to protect your people, and I know you feel that they’ll rise up and revolt if you’re not there to lead them, but maybe there can be some peace between our citizens if they saw this as less of a sacrifice and more as a merger of forces.”

The pair turned up the grand front staircase of white stonework, carved and polished to blind the climbers. It only made the red of her dress stand out that much more as she climbed with only two others. Everyone else had to be left behind.

“I _feel_ like a sacrifice.”

“You’re not. This was something both sides decided on for peace. Your people love you, but will you use their love to spark a rebellion for your own benefit, or theirs?”

The other servant opposite of Ino looked up hesitantly to watch Sakura’s expression beneath the veil, knowing no one else who could get away with speaking to their queen so bluntly. But, unlike her sisters, Sakura welcomed blunt speech, and readily rewarded those who were brave enough to share it with her. Few others dared.

“You’re an outsider, you wouldn’t understand the people’s pride,” Sakura sighed. “We’ve hated the Uchiha for years.”

“So too did the Senju, but look what happened there.”

“Hashirama Senju wanted to be friends and allies with Madara Uchiha. I’m being married off to a never before seen prince that’s likely just as much of a pig and brute as any of the others.”

Ino giggled and it sounded so much like when they were girls it made something in Sakura’s heart ache. “I don’t know,” Ino began. “I heard the Uchiha are famed for their handsome stock. Maybe you’ll actually enjoy whoever they have in mind for you.”

Sakura and her servants stopped outside the tall brass doors and felt the chill from the deepest parts of the palace not warmed by any sunbeam. It was summer, so she should have been thankful for the cool breeze, but Sakura couldn’t help but feel like a deer on alert, the way all the hairs on her body stood up.

“Here we go,” she breathed before pushing open the doors with her own two hands while servants and guards alike watched on.

It was the first of the traditions she would have to complete over the next few days before the man they picked for her could say he was her husband. And just like she had traditions to complete and see finished, he too would have to perform her rituals.

The doors opened wide and in the hall polished marble gleamed with veins of gray and pearl. The far walls were hung with tapestries as low pillows and couches were set about for the court to recline on, sipping at their wine while idle eyes took all of her in and found her lacking.

‘ _Not an Uchiha_.’ That’s all it took.

The elder king, an old wrinkled man that had once decimated armies in a single nightfall, stood from his throne and grinned, clapping his hands together. “You’ve come unharmed and without delay. I am glad to see it,” Madara cheered. 

The court began to murmur with excitement, feeding off the old king’s joy. There was something more to his words that Sakura wasn’t getting. Still, she clasped her arms over her chest, touching her fingers to each opposite shoulder, and sank into a bow that didn’t belong to either the male or females of her people, but was a mixture of both. He wouldn’t know any better.

“Of course, Glorious One, it is as you say, I did not wish to spare any delay in our meeting.”  When Sakura rose from her bow she was proud of how blank she had made her face and how even her words came out. “I am eager to bind our peoples together in a union stronger than all others.”

“I’m excited for what this means. You traveled a long way. Would you not rather rest for the rest of the day?” He asked because he had to, but Sakura could tell his smile was too eager for her to risk refusing.

“I am well rested enough. Please don’t hold back on my account.”

“Here then,” he boomed, throwing his arms wide. “My grandsons are eager as well to see who you will be matched with.”

Sakura hesitated, feeling off balance for a moment. It sounded like they hadn’t picked someone for her. What would that mean?

There were more whispers than ever, as nobles leaned far over to speak with one another, sharing their thoughts on the matter. She strained to hear, but none of their words made sense.

A man came out from behind a curtain hanging down over the main dais. He carried a long wooden box with hurried authority, stopping in front of her to raise the lid and tilt it towards her. Inside Sakura saw four different items laid into velvet cushions.

“The first of our traditions, you must choose your betrothed using the old ways,” Madara boomed. “Each of my grandsons who are free and willing have put something of theirs into the box, hoping to attract your eye. Let your heart guide you here.”

Sakura kept her face unchanged. It was an old and pointless tradition, because it didn’t matter who she ended up marrying. One prince was just as good as the next and it wasn’t like she even knew anything about her choices. For all she knew one of them could have warts all over his face while the next was the size of two men in girth.

Lucky her.

Sakura took a step forward and peered inside the box. There was a diamond as big as her fist, dazzling and bright in one corner. The next item was the iridescent aqua feather of the rare blue falcon, a near mythical creature with feathers worth their weight ten times over in gold. The third item was a Palace Ring, a heavy gold band to wear on one’s finger with a miniature castle cast in glass. The wearer of such a ring was the rightful owner of the castle or territory it depicted. Each gift was a bit more elaborate than the next and it made her a little upset to see how wasteful they could be before they even knew her.

She glanced up from under her lashes to the raised platform where Madara watched. Behind him the silks hung down and obscured the rest of his royal family from view, but Sakura could still make out shadows. One of the four figures had stood up and was leaning forward, trying to see better. Another boy yanked him back down and Sakura saw them turn to each other and hiss in whispers. One of the four figures looked bored, slouching in his seat, and the last sat like a princess would, quiet and still.

The last object in the box was a small book, bound by hand. Sakura turned the front cover over with her finger to peer inside and smelled the cherry blossoms before she saw them. Inside the book were pressed flowers and poems, all written in the same hand. Sakura read the first one and then flipped the page to the next one. She heard the murmurs all around her but paid them no mind.

“Has the lady made her choice?” Madara called down to her, sounding far too delighted for his own good.

Sakura let the book close again and then picked it up out of the box. She heard someone make a sound of frustration behind the silk and a young woman off to the side nearly cried when she saw the book in Sakura’s hand. Several others laughed at how she had taken the least of all the gifts and another sounded pitying.

‘ _The sick one_ ,’ she heard someone say and then there was more snickering. Maybe someone else said something about a mismatch, but she paid them no more mind.

“I have,” Sakura answered calmly.

Madara chuckled and beckoned for a servant to pull back the silks and let the young princes be finally seen. There wasn’t much to distinguish one from the other, they all had the same black hair and eyes and pale skin. The first one had his hair cut short to show off the scars on one half of his face, the second was tall and thin with curly hair and an out of place smile. The next one looked younger than the rest and he didn’t bother hiding his scowl. The last one looked even more like a princess now that she saw him and not just his shadow. His face was smooth and clear and paler than the others with only minimal signs of stress under his eyes. His hair was neatly braided and pulled over his shoulder like a tail of silk. The last prince stepped forward to stand beside Madara.

“I would like to introduce you to one of my most promising grandsons, Itachi Uchiha.”  

Sakura lowered herself into a curtsy to match his bow.

“The pleasure is mine,” she murmured, keeping his book of poems close to her chest.

* * *

Sakura eventually learned the names of the other princes the way a commander memorized the names of mountains. She didn’t want to, but she did so because it made survival easier.

Obito wanted nothing to do with her and she figured it had something to do with his history as a general in the military during the times their countries had been at war.

The youngest of the group was Sasuke, Itachi’s sullen younger brother who eventually put in the effort to get to know her. She could tell he looked up to Itachi a great deal and was loathed to share any of his attention with an outsider.

Shisui was the one Sasuke had to pull back down into his seat that day. He was the least Uchiha like of all his relatives and Sakura almost found herself relaxing around his disarming smile, until she realized that’s what he wanted.

It didn’t take long for her to realize what the whispers meant when they referred to Itachi as ‘the sick one.’ Itachi had poor lungs and could not join in with the games and activities his brothers and cousins enjoyed so much. He was medicated each day by a unique servant, and kept out of the sun least it diminish his energies even more.

But he was soft and kind and unendingly gentle around her. She woke up to fresh cut flowers by her bed every morning, always different, always beautiful. Sometimes there were notes of poetry tied around the stalks and she recognized the handwriting from her own book of poetry.

“You were lucky,” Ino whispered one morning, pointing out the window to where the boys were swimming in the pools between the gardens. There was plenty of shade and a day off from the politics, so several young princes had decided to go ‘fishing’ in the pools, only to end up soaked and swimming.

“Why, because I didn’t pick Obito? He’d have killed me in my sleep by now I think,” Sakura grumbled without looking up from her book.They had plenty of things for her to read at the palace, and she thought that almost made up for the fact that she was little better than a political hostage in a wedding dress.

“Nah, nah, not that,” Ino absently muttered, eyes transfixed.

There was no further explanation but Sakura heard the splashing and laughter from downstairs. A moment later Sakura closed her book in frustration and stood up to look out and see what it was that had her favorite so enthralled.

The three youngest princes were wading through the waters, splashing each other or drifting on the surface, something Itachi could do without straining himself. A couple of palace servants stood off to the side holding robes and sandals for once the boys finished. 

A beat later Sakura realized what had her friend so transfixed.

“Ino…they’re not….wearing anything.”

“Yeah.”

Sakura swallowed and quickly ducked away before she could be spotted at the window. Suddenly she was the one having a hard time breathing. There were places she could go that had no princes to make her brain do the panicking thing.

“Haruno.”

Sakura stopped in the halls and turned back to see Shisui’s father, Kagami Uchiha. Like his son he was a carefree Uchiha with more smiles than he knew what to do with. He had taken a shine to her even though she hadn’t picked his son like he thought she would. He was the only one who still called her by her old name even though she officially hadn’t married Itachi. They were waiting for the next lunar cycle to follow tradition.

“You seem to be in a hurry, where are you headed to with such swift steps?” he teased, offering her his hand. She noticed it was rough an calloused from years of labor as a general. 

She took his hand and wound her arm around his. “You catch me at the worst times, Kagami. I had been hoping to sneak into the stables. Will you keep me from my mischievous ways?”

“I may not be able to keep my son in check, but you’re far less difficult to speak reason into. You are not dressed for riding but I will offer you a turn in my carriage if you so choose. The plan was to go hunting but a little sightseeing-”

“Hunting!” Sakura exclaimed, eyes bright. “Take me with you. I’ll be as silent as the fox.”

He looked up over her head and his smile seemed to sag. “I think that maybe someone else might like to steal your attentions away. Another time, sweet queen.”

He slipped his arm free and Sakura turned to see Itachi at the end of the hall, dressed in damp robes and looking sheepish. His hair was still wet and draped over one shoulder, no longer held in a braid. Sakura sighed loudly and turned down the hall to approach him.

“Look at this, soaked silly. Did you fall in or is this how you fish in your country?” she teased, stopping just shy of his arm’s reach.    

Itachi’s smile was slow but spreading steadily across his face as he looked back at her. “It’s a good enough day for a swim. You should have joined us.”

Sakura felt her eyebrows shoot straight up. “Really? You would have wanted me there for this?” she asked, tugging on a wet strand of his bangs.

“I’m sure you would have enjoyed yourself,” he said.

“Your brother and cousin were both there.”

“So?”

Sakura felt her ears burn. “Don’t make me say it,” she groaned even as she felt him draw closer. When she opened her eyes he had closed the distance and stood with his nose bent towards her forehead, close enough for his lips to reach her.

“I was right, that was you in the window,” he chuckled, smelling like eucalyptus.

“Only for a moment! Why do you think I’m down here in the halls, trying to slip away? I tried pulling my servant away and gave up, unwilling to subject myself to the sight any longer.”

He laughed, bending his head down into her hair where she heard him inhale once before pulling back. “Can I steal you away then? To the gardens?”

There was no way she would be able to get out of the palace for a break on her own, and the stables had been a long shot to begin with.

“I have nothing better to do, my prince.”

Itachi grinned, taking her arms and folding it over his before leading her to the gardens by the empty poolside. Sakura made a joke under her breath about being scarred by the sight of his brother and cousin, but that only made him laugh.

“What about me?”  She felt his thumb rub circles into the back of her hand as he led her to where a stone bench sat under the heavy palm branches.

“I am nothing but faithful, naturally. I’ll never complain about having to see your junk,” she chuckled, feeling a bit too giddy for what she thought she deserved. She couldn’t help but enjoy teasing Itachi.  

“I apologize for not inspiring more anticipation for our wedding night.”

 Itachi sat down alongside her and took her hand with both of his, kissing the back of her knuckles once before holding her hand on his lap. Sakura followed his line of sight and saw a pair of red and green parrots from a land far wetter than theirs. The birds sat high up in the trees before taking off in a brilliant show of color.

“You enjoy birds?” Sakura asked, seeing his soft smile once more.

“I do, but not as much as my brother who raises them. He is the one with the falcons you see sometimes, circling the palace. I’m sure he would be willing to show you the mews where the birds are kept. They are his pride.”

Sakura nodded slowly, thinking something through. “Was his gift the bird feather?” she asked a moment later. When Itachi didn’t respond right away she looked back over her shoulder at him and hummed in understanding. “It was, wasn’t it. What’s the matter?”

She felt his thumb go back to tracing circles in her skin. “He might be a little upset with me still, that my silly poems were chosen over his great accomplishment. Both he and Shisui had been so sure of themselves.”

“You weren’t?”

“Hopeful isn’t the same as confident.” Itachi glanced up at her from under his lashes and then bowed his head again to rest on her shoulder. “Shisui conquered whole territories, so castles were his to give. Obito is rich from his own conquests but didn’t even care if he won or lost the choosing ceremony. Sasuke adventured for his prize and was so proud for how rare and beautiful it was.” Itachi lifted his head and looked her fully in the eye. “Why did you pick my book? Was it-it wasn’t just random, was it?”

Sakura thought it over, considering her words more carefully as she saw the look in his eyes. It was an old look she hated to recognize. He didn’t say it, but she knew he was thinking it; ‘ _Do you regret your choice_?’

“When I came here, I had it in my head that this was a doomed venture, and that it would all end in flames before the year was up, partly because of how hard my heart was. I didn’t think I could happily go along with anything. I didn’t look forward to any of this.”

She felt his hands holding hers tighten but he didn’t say anything. He kept silent and listened.

“When it came to the choosing, I didn’t know what to think. I thought they would have just chosen someone for me and I’d have no say in it. It was surprising. When he opened the lid to that box I was curious but I didn’t think I’d care one way or the other. They were just gifts I’d never use or appreciate beyond being a fancy decoration. But your gift was handmade so I was interested.”

“Just interested?”

Sakura shushed him, reaching up with her free hand to bop his face. “Yes, interested. Do you remember what you put in between the first few pages?”

“A Cherry Blossom, your namesake.”      

“It was the only gift that felt like it was meant for me, that felt like the person preparing the gift actually thought about me as a person and not a hostage. And I thought, huh, maybe this is a person I might actually grow to like if he put in the effort to know my name at least. That, and I remember your words from the first poem even to this day.”

Sakura stood and crossed in front of Itachi reaching for both his hands to hold in hers as she stared down into his eyes. She leaned in and touched her forehead to his and closed her eyes.

“Deep in the ocean, dead and cast away where innocences burn in flames a million miles from home, I’m walking ahead I’m frozen to the bones, but I am a soldier on my own.”

Itachi sucked in a breath and dared to look up but Sakura caught his lips in hers, earning a moan and fluttering lashes as he melted for her.

When she pulled away she heard his voice murmur the rest of the poem.  “I am a million miles from home, I’m walking away. I can’t remind your eyes, your face from the dawn of time to the end of days I will have to run away I want to feel the pain and the bitter taste of the blood on my lips, again.”

“I don’t regret my choice,” Sakura whispered.

Itachi tugged on her arms and stood, only to end up kneeling at her side. He touched his forehead to her navel, a promise to be there for all her children. When he looked up his eyes were glassy but bright.

 “I know it’s already been arranged, but let me do this properly…Will you marry me?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> *Poem is actually from the song Iron by Woodkid off the The Golden Age that I’ve been listening to while writing this. Well worth the listen.


End file.
